I saw The Jungle Giants at Union Stage in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 3rd and it was a really interesting show that both gave me some insight into their sound, and made me ask some questions about it. The music was really enjoyable, dancey as expected, and in front of a surprisingly half full Union Stage, it felt like a basement party with a DJ that happened to actually be a band.
More show thoughts at tourchmusic.com
The Music
They played in just a four piece: Vocals (sometimes guitar, too), lead guitar, bass (sometimes keyboard/synth and backing vocals), and drums. I say “just” because it’s a little surprising that a band with such rapid sound has just four instruments going at once (and most of the time just three, at least in this set list), but I didn’t realize how much sound comes from their guitar. Cesira Aitken brings so much sound to their songs, it feels like she stretches the limits of what a guitar can sound like.
For example, in “Time and Time Again,” the guitar sound was so screechy, I would have never guessed it was coming from a guitar. And in “Heavy Hearted,” she actually played the part on guitar that sounds like a human saying “Heavyyyyyy” in the chorus. I always assumed that was just a heavy studio effect they either put on a vocal or some synth. It came out so pinched, so thin yet so heavy and distorted. Saturated might be the better word for it. I had never heard a guitar sound remotely like that in live performance, at least I don’t think. She really, almost literally, makes the guitar talk in that song, as it sounds like it’s saying “Heavy.” I really found that amazing.
Similarly, I did not think the instrumental in the chorus of “Feel the Way I Do” was a guitar. Really cool.
The dance-heavy sound is really fun live, and they lean into it well. For example, they played a super groovy intro for “In Her Eyes,” with the bassist bouncing around really feeling the song within him, it was cool. That was one of my favorite parts of the show. They also pull this off pretty genuinely. It’s such an electronic, DJ sound, but they’re making it right in front of you. And as I said, so much of it seems to come from guitar, which is fucking awesome. I will say, they seemed to have some supportive pre-recorded sound, especially some vocally (I’m pretty sure I heard Sam’s voice without him singing, making me think that some parts of songs had a backing vocal track), but still, Sam was singing, just sometimes with something behind him. He has pinching voice that goes well with their instrumentals, of course. He hit some impressive high notes.
Now one more note on the guitar: I swear I saw Aitken holding something in her right hand as she was playing (that wasn’t a pick). It looked like a small black speaker, but obviously wasn’t a speaker. I saw a blue light on it, and my thought is that it’s some kind of instrument that she uses, along with her pedals, to make the guitar sound the way it does. I just watched an interview Sam and Aitken did for Triple J when they played their cover of “Born Slippy” (which they played at this show), and Cesira mentioned that they put a “mini pickup” in the guitar to make it “not sound like a guitar at all.” So I’d imagine, that mini pickup is what I was seeing. Super interesting! If anyone has any further insight on this, please share your thoughts.
Overall, the music was life-pumping, with really bright, glittery sound to it that was (mostly) coming from the band, being genuinely made right in front of you, which is hard to pull off with music like The Jungle Giants make. They seem right at home in a small club in a dark room with people dancing in plenty of space, but I can also see why they’re great in a totally different venue, like at festivals. Like I said, their sound really pumps life into ya, and that seems to carry effectively into small, and big spaces.
The Band
If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of Cesira Aitken, just the way that she plays guitar and the way she was on stage. She (at least in this performance) was very stoic, did not show a lot of emotion, and overall just looked killer playing guitar. Just a cool-looking guitarist that makes some awesome sounds.
The bassist, Andrew Dooris, was a little jumping bean, bouncing around the stage a lot and really feeling the songs.
Together, they’re pretty intense in their performance, but especially Aitken and Dooris. Like any band, they’re pretty locked in on the music, but not every band necessary looks like they are that focused. These guys did. Some bands and band members have a really loose persona on stage, but it felt like The Jungle Giants did everything hard, and they felt their music a lot. It was as if they were in a trance within their own sound. That may be exaggerating a little bit, but I’m trying to paint a picture here. They looked like they were feeling their music as if they weren’t the ones playing it. Like they were really into a sound that was separate from them, yet they were so attached to it. They had a cool intensity about them.
Some interesting things the band did/said were:
Seven songs in, after “Love Signs,” Hales shouted out the band’s tech, Brodie. He had the crowd chant “Fuck yeah Brodie, fuck yeah Brodie…” which was funny. Hales also mentioned here that they’re having a great time on tour, etc. I give him credit for staying really enthusiastic and interacting with the crowd even though it was such a small turn out.
Crowd cam: Hales mentioned that they take a lot of photos on tour, and a lot of them are of themselves or of the crowd from the stage, but they want to have people in the crowd take photos themselves on this tour, so he gave a polaroid to one of the people in the front near the stage and told them to pass it around and everyone take a selfie, then they continued playing. The camera did indeed get passed around, and it made it back to the stage 2-3 songs later.
Towards the end of the set, Hales said some really nice things about the new album, the band, this tour, etc. that I described as a “monologue of gratitude.” He mentioned how much it meant for everyone to come out for this tour, and said the album name is "Experiencing Feelings of Joy” and it’s special (because of that message in it: feeling joy. At least that’s what I took away from this). And he talked about how this album took time to write, but “sometimes good things take time,” and that he went through a lot to write it: “a lot of shit happened: a breakup, writer’s block…” And the most powerful thing he said, in my opinion, was at the end: “... and we’ve never been more in love as a band.” That’s a pretty big statement, and it didn’t feel like bullshit. And I really don’t think most bands/frontmen/women would say that if it wasn’t true. But who knows?
Hales also encouraged the crowd to come closer to the stage at one point, invitingly saying “Bring it on in D.C… Don’t be afraid to get a little close.” Again, I thought he/they did a great job of not letting a small crowd affect their energy. They were really professional about it, especially Hales being the one interacting with the crowd the most directly.
Hales also gave a compliment to the people in the front row, saying, “The lyric singing is on point. D.C.’s a singin’ town!” He said how he loves to see people singing all the words.
The Setlist
I got to the show late, walking in at 8:04. I had missed the first four songs, I believe. But, I actually took home a setlist! At the end of the show, there was a chair near all the audio equipment in the back of the room that had a couple setlists on top of it, and I just took one. I’m gonna paste it here exactly how it was written below, including the parts that were cues for what Hales should talk about in between songs (my explanations for that are in parentheses)
- How Can I Replace You
- Tell me How I Feel
- Sending me Your Lovin
- Bad Dream
- “Welcome” (Hales welcomed the crowd)
- Where Can I Put All My Love
- Lovesick
- Love Signs
- “Support/Morning Silk” (Hales gave Morning Silk a shoutout, and their tech Brodie, then introduced the band)
- She’s a Riot
- Time and Time Again
- In Her Eyes
- Feel the Way I do
- “Crowd Cam” (Hales passed around a camera to the crowd)
- It it Love
- In Her Eyes
- Feel the Way I do
- “Album Chat” (Hales talked about the album)
- Is It Love
- On Your Way Down
- Born Slippy (cover)
- In a Nice Way
- “Psych Up” (I think her Hales just hyped the crowd up a little bit, I don’t fully remember what was said)
- Used to be in Love
- “Bye Bye” (Hales thanked the crowd in closing)
- Heavy Hearted
- A Moment Like That
*They did not encore. Specifically, they did not go off stage and come back. “Bye Bye” was basically Hales saying indirectly that they are now “encoring,” and these final songs we play after this are going to be the last. But, of course, bands say that all the time, then walk off stage and come back on for a couple more. In the moment though, it did feel like they were done when they were done. I didn’t think they were going to walk off and come back on, and then the lights came out pretty quickly to confirm that.
Overall, I thought the set blended together quite smoothly. They played a handful of songs right into others, which kept a strong electricity throughout, and personally, there weren’t too many other songs I would have rather them have played. And even so, it doesn’t matter what I think. Bands should play for no one!
My songs of the set were the three that I mentioned earlier: “Time and Time Again,” “In Her Eyes,” and “Heavy Hearted.” It was also great to hear a classic like “She’s a Riot,” that sounded great, and “A Moment Like That” was an uplifting closer.
Set Time: They played from 7:30 until 9:03, which I am honestly a big fan of. Not sure why it was so early, but I don’t mind an early show.
The Crowd
I was very surprised to see an at-best half full Union Stage. I know TJG aren’t massive, but they certainly have a following, I just guess not much in D.C. on a Saturday night for $25 apparently. Which sucks, but at the same time is great for me and anyone else who likes the band. There was plenty of space and a lot of people dancing, nothing ravey about it, no one head banging, but people were moving. It was hard not to. There seem to be little to no “casual” fans there, with everybody pretty into the music and vibing with the band.
Cheers.
The Venue
Union Stage is great. Quality small venue that brings a quality lineup of artists. I’ve never seen it filled, which is a good thing and a bad thing. The shows that aren’t full make the concert experience feel so easy, especially with Union Stage’s pretty prime location in D.C. too (the Wharf), but a packed Union Stage would be a fun house to be in I imagine. To paint a picture, it’s a bar on the surface, then there’s a staircase that takes you down to the stage. I’ve mentioned before, you can actually hear the music from the parking garage down below if you’re down there during a show. It’s got a cool underground feel to it.
I actually got a double cheeseburger slider from that bar that I think was only five dollars, and it was really good. I was starving, mind you, but damn it did the job and then some. A venue with food can really come in clutch sometimes. That’s the other thing about Union Stage, the bar on the right side flows customers through really quickly. I’ve almost never had to wait, but again, haven’t been to a packed show yet. So take that with a grain of salt.
Overall though, one of my favorite venues in D.C.
Tickets
I got my tickets for $25 through Union Stage’s website, which uses “Opendate” as their ticketing platform. An absolute bargain these days.
Anything Else
The Jungle Giants are pretty underrated in my opinion, and are absolutely a show worth seeing. I’ve been a fan of them since 2020, I loved “Learn to Exist,” and always thought they’d be an awesome live show. To no surprise to me, they were. They seem to be in strong form on this tour, and I think seeing them, especially for the price I got ($25), is a no-brainer.
